Gardeners Guide

A tip…….to avoid a surplus with plants you can’t keep or preserve, stagger your planting every 5 weeks.

The Winter Garden

Just because it’s cooler, doesn’t mean the winter months are less incline to produce a good harvest. If you continue to follow the mantra of planting in season for the area in which you live you will still reap the rewards of a hearty kitchen garden.

Again remember to replenish your soil with a good fertilizer and additional soil if your beds are look a little low. Always turn your soil over well before planting your next crop and pull out any un wanted and left over root systems from your last harvest. You will need to give your veggies a feed approximately once a month.

Good fertilizers to use are Blood and Bone, Miracle Grow Organic Choice or Seasol.

Here’s your suggested Winter planting guide

Based on areas of sub-tropical and some temperate areas of australia.

Beetroot

Broadbeans

Cabbage

Carrot

Cauliflower

Celeriac

Chicory

Chives

Endive

Garlic

Kale

Kholrabi

Lettuce

Mustard Greens

Onions

Parsnip

Peas

Radish

Rocket

Shallots

Silverbeet / Swiss Chard

Snow peas

A tip…… to prevent transplant shock when re-planting a citrus tree, soak the root ball in seasol solution while you prep your new pot or garden bed.

The Autumn Garden

Very soon there will be a change in the air. The nights will become cool and the mornings crisp. The leaves on the trees change colour, the sky becomes clearer, the sun on your skin feels warm and pleasant. Autumn, while a season in itself, reaches no extremes. It sits comfortably in between.

Planting in sub-tropical and Temperate Australia during this time is still abundant, so many fruits, vegetable and herbs flourish during the Autumn months. It’s the time when you can think about planting the the produce you want for winter. The ground is still warm from the summer months and proves perfect to promote root growth before the colder weather sets in. Meanwhile you are starting the reap the benefits from the produce that needs long slow ripening over the warmer as they come in their own. Watermelons and Rockmelons are plentiful, tomatoes are still in abundance (a perfect time for preserving them) Pumpkins are ready and so are eggplants. The nut trees have blossomed and are ready for picking. All in all Autumn is pretty special.

Now into the planting……… It is important though at the end of each season to replenish your garden beds or pots with some fresh soil and a good dose of fertiliser. You really need to mix it through the bed thoroughly. I always use an organic soil mix and fertilise with blood and bone or organic Miracle Grow. Then you need regular feeds to your seedlings and plants, i like to use seasol or a product like it.

My good friend Oliver recently introduced my to the Little Veggie Patch Co. You really must check them out. Two gents, Fabian Capomolla and Mat Pember, installers of edible veggie patches have designed and set up a pop up veggie patch for rent. You can lease your own box on top of a building in federation square in melbourne and grown your own edible plants. What an amazing idea. Visit their website www.littleveggiepatch.com.au and find out more about what they are up to. You can also buy their book ‘Little Veggie Patch Co – how to grow food in small places’ available online.

Whether it be a few potted herbs, some tomatoes or a raised vegetable bed you still need to plant for the seasons.

Summer is here and hopefully most of us have sown our summer crops for during the spring months. If you haven’t it’s not too late to start.

Many find the thought of growing your own food overwhelming but you needn’t. Start your kitchen garden with a couple of pots of herbs, some rocket or tomatoes. Trust me there is nothing better than being able to walk outside and pick something to eat.

In hotter areas, namely SE QLD start to look on your seed packets for the more heat loving varieties to plant. Brisbane is humid and some plants may be a little intolerant to that. Veggies like Sweetcorn, Eggplant, Capsicums, Chillies, Pumpkins and Melons are all good. Check your herb Varieties too. I always find Basil, Parsley, Oregano, Mint, Rosemary and Sage go very well in our climate in the hotter months. It makes sense really as they are the Mediterranean herbs and look at their climate, very similar the Australia’s in particularly SE QLD.

A few tips to get you started.

Pots – if you choose terra-cotta pots, they will absorb a little moisture so you will need to water a little more often. Especially in the warmer months

Do a little bit of research on what grows best in your area. There are a lot of good sites that will give you great tips. Brisbane Organic Growers INC has a wonderful site- www.bogi.com.au . Apart from your plant shops, don’t hesitate to speak to growers at your local farmers markets or good produce stores in your area. They are a fountain of knowledge and will gladly share it with you.

Soil – buy a good quality well fertilised organic soil mix. Leafy plants like nitrogen in their feed and flowering veggies like a little potassium boost. Both of these are common in most good soil mixes. Give them a little feed about once a month to maintain the healthiest plant possible.

Take the time to read each plant / herbs planting instructions and ideal position.